Battlestar Galactica: By the Numbers
After 15 frakkin' years since BSG signed off, here's a look back at its considerable legacy.
In 2024, reboots, reimaginings and legacy sequels are par for the course across all media, particularly television. New versions of everything from Quantum Leap to Magnum, P.I. populate the TV landscape — with a long-in-development reboot of Battlestar Galactica in the works. But it's 2003's Emmy-winning Battlestar from Star Trek writer Ronald D. Moore that arguably sparked the reboot trend on TV.
When BSG first premiered with an epic two-part miniseries on SyFy (then simply The Sci-Fi Channel), it was a revelation. ABC's original 1978 series followed what's left of humanity as they struggle to evade and survive their enemies, the cybernetic Cylons, while voyaging across the stars in search of mythical new home called Earth. Under Moore's creative guidance, the revamped Battlestar took the premise of the original series and filtered it through a gritty, grounded post-9/11 lens. Moore dialed up the emotional stakes and tension aboard the titular decomissioned ship, by having their heroes forced to deal with a new breed of Cylons that look, behave and feel like humans.
The result is considered one of sci-fi TV's most memorable achievements, as Moore and his writers used the Battlestar canvas to explore how the human race would realistically survive the moral and ethical fallout stemming from the Cylons' devastating attack. The drama is rooted in a complex civilization brimming with bigotry and fear, especially when Battlestar's crew discovers that some of their allies and friends are really Cylons. With humankind's President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) ascending to Commander-in-Chief from the bottom of the succession line, her counterpart, veteran Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos), must keep what's left of the Colonial fleet safe from Cylon attacks both outside and from within his relic of a vessel. Roslin and Adama's push-pull relationship, and the game of inches they play to keep their people alive, forms the crux of the series — which signed off like it began with an equally epic series finale on March 20, 2009.
In honor of the finale's 15th anniversary, here's a look back at BSG's legacy by the numbers.
Number of seasons: 4 (plus the premiere miniseries)
Number of episodes: 76
Number of TV movies: 2
Number of Emmy nominations: 21
Number of Emmy wins: 4, including Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series in 2007 and 2008
Number of episodes directed by series star Edward James Olmos: 4
Number of episodes written (or co-written) by series creator Ronald D. Moore: 12
Number of human-Cylon models: 13
Number of survivor's by the series finale: 39,406
Number of discs in BSG's Blu-ray set: 21
Original Battlestar Galactica stars with a role on the 2000s revamp: 1
Number of tie-in webisodes: 27
Number of spin-offs: 2
Streaming services currently offering BSG with subscription as of press time: 0